


and Rachel laughs

by torigates



Category: Friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:06:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six moments of friendship between Chandler and Rachel</p>
            </blockquote>





	and Rachel laughs

 

 

  
1987

 

 

 

“I’m in college and I’m in a band,” Chandler said as explanation for trying to kiss her.

Rachel considered this for a moment. “Yeah, okay!”

They kissed.

Chandler felt horrible about it the next day. Especially because he knew how much Ross liked Rachel. He knew how much Ross liked Rachel when he kissed her. He could blame it on being drunk, because he was. He knew Rachel had been drunk too, but he knew what he was doing at the time. It didn’t mean anything, he knew that, but he still felt terrible about it, even if Ross had broken their pact.

He promised himself he would never tell Ross the truth. What Ross didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.

When he talked about it with Rachel years later, she laughed. “I can’t believe that happened!” she said. She looked vaguely embarrassed, but mostly amused.

Chandler searched her face. “You weren’t mad?” he asked.

She laughed again. “Mad? Chandler, you were in college and in a band. I was pretty ecstatic.”

He couldn’t help grinning at that. It was probably the one and only time that line had worked.

“I told all my friends about it,” she continued. “Of course, I couldn’t tell Monica I kissed you, so I made up another name. She was super jealous.”

“Yeah?” he asked, grinning a bit. It was strange for him to think of anyone being jealous after kissing him. He’d never been anything to write home about, let alone a source of jealousy.

“Yeah,” Rachel confirmed.

 

 

 

1995

 

 

 

After everything spirals out of control, and everyone has seen someone else naked, Chandler felt pretty horrible. Not too horrible, because, after all, he had seen Rachel’s tits, but still, pretty horrible. The girls were always going on and on about how he and Joey shouldn’t be in their apartment all the time, but he had never seen the harm in it until he had accidentally walked in on Rachel naked. It had been an honest mistake, but things had quickly gotten out of control after that. It was just like his luck.

He knocked on their door, and Rachel opened it, looking a bit weary.

“See?” he asked. “I can knock.”

She scowled, but moved aside. He walked into the apartment.

“I just wanted to apologize,” he started.

Rachel waved him off. She walked around the kitchen table and opened the fridge. She poured a glass of orange juice and offered it to Chandler. He took it and she poured another one, before taking a long sip. He held his glass awkwardly.

“I feel bad.”

“You should,” she said.

Chandler winced. She sat down at the table, and he did too. Finally, she smiled.

“Chandler, it’s okay. I’m not mad anymore. I was,” she allowed. Chandler nodded. That much had been obvious. “But it was a mistake. As much as I hope you’ll always knock from now on, I know that you won’t.” He opened his mouth. “And even if you did, Joey never would.”

Chandler laughed. “That’s true.”

She shrugged. He took a sip of the orange juice. He still felt awkward.

“So,” he asked after a minute. “Are we good?”

“We’re good,” she said, and stood up. She held out her arms, and Chandler walked around the table to give her a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he felt better about the whole thing. After a moment she poked him in the ribs. Hard.

“Ow,” he complained, rubbing the spot.

“That’s what you get,” she said.

He grinned and headed for the door. She stood watched him go. “Okay, see you later,” he said.

“See you.”

He opened the door, but paused before going through it. “By the way, if it hasn’t been said enough, you have great boobs.”

Rachel grinned. “I really do.”

 

 

 

1999

 

 

 

In the second before she opened her apartment door, Rachel took a deep breath and hoped that no one would be there.

The door swung back to reveal Chandler sitting at the kitchen table.

“Shit,” she said.

He made a face. “Well, hello to you too, Rachel. It’s lovely to see you. You’re looking well.”

She waved a hand to brush him off. “Is Monica here?” she asked.

Chandler shook his head. For a moment she contemplated asking why he didn’t just hang out in his own apartment, but it was an old argument. One she had pretty well given up on winning. Instead, she sat down on a chair opposite him and sighed.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“Ross needs help moving his couch.”

He groaned, and Rachel nodded.

“Is Joey home?” she asked.

He shook his head. “You know, I would be offended by that, except for the fact that I really do not want to help Ross move his couch.”

Rachel snorted.

“Why didn’t he just hire movers?” Chandler asked.

Rachel told him.

Chandler groaned and got his coat.

After the whole “Pivot,” fiasco, Rachel and Chandler sat on the jammed couch, while Ross went off to find his super. Every so often one of them would mutter the word under their breath and the two of them would be off laughing again.

One or two of Ross’ neighbours tried to come down the stairs while they waited, and they had to tell them to climb over the rail, or go back up. No wonder the other tenants hate him, Rachel thought.

Rachel had her legs tucked up underneath her, and they sat side by side on the couch.

“Did you really carry that couch for three blocks?” Chandler asked. He sounded slightly impressed

“I’m stronger than I look,” Rachel said.

He grinned. “Ross is so cheap,” he said with a shake of his head.

“You’re telling me,” she said.

When Ross and the super showed up with a chainsaw, Rachel and Chandler could not stop laughing. Rachel thought Ross was probably going to cry, which only made the whole thing that much better. For years afterwards one of them would only have to mention the word ‘pivot’ to set them both off grinning. Ross, for his part, never found it particularly funny.

 

 

 

2001

 

 

 

“I think Monica would be very interested to know you called her cheesecake dry and mealy.”

“What do we _use_ to split it?”

Every year on her birthday, Rachel received a box from Mama’s Little Bakery. It was sent to her office at work so she wouldn’t have to share it with anyone else.

Rachel grinned and cut out a large slice, almost a third of the cake, and put it aside. She waited until Chandler showed up to eat with her, and by the time he did arrive she made a significant dent in her portion.

He just grinned and sat down across from her at her desk. Rachel wordlessly handed him a fork. They ate in companionable silence for several long minutes, only sounds of pleasure coming from one or both of them.

They never told anyone else about it. It was really good cheesecake.

 

 

 

2006

 

 

 

The twins were crying in another room when Chandler opened the door. Rachel had Emma perched on her hip, and she was smiling.

“How’s it going?” Rachel asked.

“Oh, you know,” he said with a shrug.

“You’re totally lost without Monica, aren’t you?” She pushed the door open, and steeped into the front hall. She could just see Jack and Erica in their highchairs. Chandler had obviously been trying to feed them before she arrived.

“I’m totally lost without Monica.” He trailed after her as she walked toward the kitchen. Both twins were crying, and Emma started to squirm in her arms. Rachel put her down before they had a third child in tears.

Monica was gone for the weekend for a culinary expo. She had called Rachel six times over the last two days asking after how things were going at home. She didn’t even want to speculate how many times she had called Chandler.

Rachel started moving around the kitchen, taking the food away from the babies and putting some Cheerios in front of them. Immediately they stopped crying.

“They’re not supposed to have Cheerios before dinner,” Chandler said.

She shrugged. “I know, but I need them to stop crying. Besides, it’s okay if I spoil them, I’m fun Aunt Rachel.” She grinned. Emma had found some of the twins discarded toys on the ground and was playing quietly. Rachel remembered all too well the days when her daughter hadn’t stopped crying. She could only imagine what it was like with two.

Between her and Chandler they managed to get Jack and Erica fed and put down for a nap. Emma was in front of the television watching a recorded episode of _Sesame Street_.

“How many times did Monica call you?” Chandler asked. He put a cup of coffee in front of her, and she accepted it gratefully.

She waved him off. “Not that many.”

He arched an eyebrow.

“A few,” she admitted.

“She made you promise to come over here and check on me, didn’t she?” he asked.

Rachel suddenly found her mug intensely fascinating.

Chandler laughed. “It’s okay,” he said.

“She worries,” Rachel said. “It’s not that she doesn’t trust you. She just worries. It’s her first time away for more than one night. It’s hard to let go,” she continued. “As a mom.”

“It’s extra hard for Monica.”

Sometimes Rachel couldn’t believe the man in front of her was the same boy she had met almost two decades ago. She couldn’t have asked for a better partner for her friend. “She tries hard,” Rachel said.

Chandler nodded. “Too hard.”

That much was true. “When does she get back?” Rachel asked, to change the subject. She knew when Monica was due back because she had told Rachel. Several times.

“Tomorrow,” Chandler said. “Thank god.”

It wasn’t that Chandler couldn’t handle his children. Rachel knew he would have had things under control, even if she had never shown up. It probably would have taken him longer, but things were always harder alone. He was just genuinely excited for his wife’s return. She smiled.

“So,” he said after another moment. “Should we go watch whatever it is Big Bird is up to this week?”

Rachel laughed. “Yeah, the last episode I saw was a real cliffhanger.”

They walked into the other room and Rachel pulled Emma into her lap. Later, they heard Jack and Erica through the baby monitor, and Chandler went to go check on them.

When Monica called her that night for an update, she could say without hesitation that Chandler had things under control.

Monica seemed pleased. Rachel laughed.

 

 

 

2012

 

 

 

Chandler watched Rachel from across the room. She was sitting by herself, seemingly lost in her thoughts. It was an impressive feat considering the chaos of the birthday party going on around her.

He walked over and nudged her with his shoulder. She startled.

“Hey,” he said.

She smiled. “Hey.”

“You seem lost in thought.”

She seemed to consider this before speaking. “Did you know Emma is _ten_ today?” she finally asked.

Chandler looked around as if suddenly taking in his surroundings. “Oh my god,” he said. “What? Really?” He grabbed a couple balloons from a nearby table and pointed to the ‘Happy Birthday’ written on one and the number ten in big letters on the other. “Is that what this stuff is for?”

Rachel laughed, and shoved him. “I know, I know,” she said. “I guess it hasn’t really sunk in yet. Doesn’t it feel like she was just born yesterday? And now she’s ten years old, soon she’ll be in high school, and then college...” she trailed off.

Chandler pulled her into a hug. “I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” he said, rubbing her back.

She nodded. “I know. I just can’t believe my baby is ten years old.”

“Please don’t cry,” Chandler said. “You know I’m terrible with that. I’d have to get Monica and she’d yell at me for disrupting the party itinerary.”

Rachel snorted at that.

“Besides,” he said. “Think how I’ll feel in two years when the twins turn ten. It’ll be twice as big a shock.”

“I’m not sure it works like that,” she said with a laugh.

Chandler assured her it did.


End file.
